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There, too, is a human touch to the meeting between Lewis and Willard. The former, an officer of the irregular Rangers, was annoyed by his being placed under the orders of a New England Captain and giving fatigue as an excuse asked for leave to stay at Cobequid and not to go with Willard. This Willard refused and ordered him to draw the one hundred men who were to go to Tatamagouche with him. Reluctant to let his men or Lewis know the true purpose of their going, Willard told them that they were to lay off a road from Cumberland to Tatamagouche and to take the directions. Willard gave these orders while in the open woods where he was greatly bothered by the flies. Taking his one hundred men and leaving the rest to return to the Church, Willard marched another two miles on the road to Tatamagouche and camped for the night by a tributary of the Isgonish, or by the Isgonish itself, which he discovered was a fine stream for trout. The next morning, the soldiers were aroused at 4 a.m. and without delay began their march to Tatamagouche. Unfortunately, even with the aid of Lewis’ map, a photostatic copy of which is before me, it is impossible to fix with certainty what route they followed. It is clear they started on the West side of the Isgonish and that by the time they had reached the base of the Cobequid mountains they had, by fording or by crude bridges, crossed and re-crossed the River several times. When they had gone about ten miles, they then left the River to their West and following the portage another seven miles struck one of the branches of the French River about ten miles from the sea. According to Lewis’ map, two crossings were made on the French River before they came out on the River three or four miles from its mouth. Then, they passed to the West side of the River and proceeded downstream to the shore. Back |
